The Potions System
This page will serve as an in depth overview and guide to how the Model Hogwarts potion system works. If you're looking for specific information and would like to find it quickly, please check the [http://model-hogwarts.wikia.com/wiki/Potions_FAQ Potions FAQ] for the condensed version. Be sure to familiarize yourself with Modifiers (A,B and C), Learning Spells and The Stat System as these resources will help you understand some of the topics that come up in this guide. Potions Overview Potions are split into three different categories, all based on how difficult the potion is to be brewed. Basic: Basic potions are generally simple concoctions, often using common ingredients and brewing processes that are neither overly long or challenging. These are the ideal potions for a beginner, and many have considerable use and power despite their humble preparations. Intermediate: These potions are harder potions and straddle the line between Basic and NEWT potions. They get harder as they progress, some of the advanced potions even rivaling NEWT difficulty. NEWT: The most difficult potions to craft at the moment, requiring skill, time and dedication to master their craft. Even skilled potioneers can struggle with these concoctions and they are not to be approached lightly. Positive or Negative? Potions in the Intermediate and NEWT categories tend to have one of two subtypes: + or - Positive (+) Potions: Potions that for the most part possess beneficial or benign effects. Negative (-) Potions: Potions that for the most part possess negative or harmful effects. You can find list of all of the currently available potions that belong to these categories here: Potions List How to Brew Potions In your journey to become a master of potions, there are two categories of spells you will be using: Potion Learning spells and Potion Creation Spells. Potion Creation Spells: * potions_basic 8 * potions_int+ 16 * potions_int-''' 16 * '''potions_NEWT+ 24 * potions_NEWT-''' 24 You use these spells to create potions, and successful potion creation depends on achieving the potion’s DC during the cast, regardless of what Sir Cadogan, the spell bot, reports. For an example, let’s imagine we’re a third year student and we just made a huge mess. The easiest way to clean it up is obviously by brewing a potion: '''Magicleanse: DC 9, Int+. To brew this potion, you cast the Creation Spell (potions_int+): If the number you roll is equal to or higher than the DC of the potion, that means you created the potion, even if the cast “failed” in the traditional sense. Mastering Potions & Potions Practice Spells While you can learn potions by using the !learn command on any of the Creation Spells if they are within your dice range (1dx + year modifier), there are three other spells you can use to start mastering Potion Creation Spells even when they are higher than your dice can currently roll. If you are a first year and your max roll with Destiny is 6, but you want to start learning the DC 8 potions_basic, this is where the Potion Practice Spells come in: * potions 3 * potions_advanced 6 * potions_expert 12 'Basically these spells represent grinding out your skills in potions the slow way, and once you are able to master the spell of your choice, you can transfer the learns into one of the Creation Spells. However, because you are learning things the gradual way by researching the theory, improving your ingredient preparation skills, making practice potions, or reading books, the point transfers are not a 1 to 1 ratio; you are not gaining first hand experience in the production of the potions, and thus it reflects as such. Using this flowchart as an example, we can see how they feed into each other. The Creation Spells are in yellow while the Practice Spells are in blue: As you may notice, potions and potions_advanced both have two special conditions: potions learns can not only be transferred to potions_basic, but theoretically a First Year can use potions to begin gaining mastery points in Int+/- or NEWT+/- potions if they are patient enough. This is to reflect that potions tends to be a skill where your raw magical prowess matters less than raw intelligence and patience. As for potions_advanced, to mimic how practice can make a process easier, once you are in Year 3 you will only need +4 in it before you can transfer the +2 to Int+/-. Do I Have to Use B? You only have to use B if your character is learning about potions from a book for that specific learn scene. If you RP your character chopping ingredients, making test potions or doing other hands-on practice methods, you do not have to use a B. How Do I Transfer Learns? Transferring points just requires pinging a @Admin member in Discord and requesting for the learns to be moved. Even if there isn’t a staff member around who is capable of helping you at the time, they will be able to pass the information along to someone who can. Can I Buy Learns in Potions Spells? Due to the unusual versatility and power of Potion Brewing spells, they are priced highly despite the possibility of early access to them. Learns in potions_basic are treated as year 2 combat learns for the purposes of purchasing learns, Learns in either Intermediate Potion spell are treated as year 5 combat learns, and learns in either NEWT Potion are treated as year 7 combat learns. Learns in the potions practice spell are treated as non-combat year 1 spells for the purpose of purchasing, Learns in potions_advanced are treated as non-combat year 2 spells and learns in potions_expert are treated as non-combat year 4 spells. How long do potions last? What is the expiration date? As of right now, there are no expiration cut offs for specific potions, with the only exceptions being the powerful potions that restrict how many dosages you can have at one time (i.e., Polyjuice, Girding Potion). In the future more expiration dates may be added, but as a general rule: Potions you create should be used within the IC year of their creation. For instance, if you make a potion in Year 2, it would expire upon the start of Year 3. Please do not abuse this system, and rampant abuse may lead to the creation of specific expiration dates. How long are the duration of a potion's effects? All times, unless otherwise specified, are IC. Since IC time and RP time are weird, the best suggestion is to hand-wave the details but try to keep how long the effects last in a scene somewhat ''realistic, while also trying to prevent stretching things past the suspension of disbelief. The suspension of disbelief is very subjective, so this is more up to the preference of you and your partners than anything else. Any OOC Specified Durations '''must' be followed. Potion Mechanics There are now a number of combat and stat potions available to use with tangible mechanical effects, and with those effects come a few general guidelines: # All potions need to be ingested or enter into the bloodstream unless the name has Balm, Salve or Gas in the title, or the description specifies that it will work on contact. # Positive stat potions do not stack. Period. You may only have one positive active potion effect on you at a time. You can however have multiple negative effects. # You must have gone through the process of making a potion to have access to it, especially if it has any combat or stat effects. This restriction is less extreme for any no-effect fluff potions, but again, anything with larger effects must be RP’d. Small scenes are fine. # While most potions don’t have a restriction on how many you can make or carry, please keep in mind that in adventures the Pathfinder is free to set limits on how many potions you bring with you, or if you may bring any at all. ★★★ Advanced Potions Mechanics Important Note: This section is only important once you begin making more advanced potions (i.e., Stat Potions like the Rano Potion or the Weakness Potion) and does not need to be read until that point. You do not need to know all of this when you first start making potions. There are a few new mechanics that have been added to the potions system in Model Hogwarts, and thanks to these mechanics we’ve been able to give potions more utility and power. This next section is important for understanding the more advanced mechanics.' Ingredients To keep things from growing imbalanced, there are now a few new gating methods to make sure that an overabundance of powerful potions don’t flood into the Model break the system. Part of it is that every potion now requires ingredients when you are brewing outside of class hours, and to facilitate that we have a very simple ingredient system. There are three types: * Common: When the ingredients that make up a potion are overwhelmingly common and easy to obtain. * Unusual: When the recipe requires a few unusual ingredients that may not be so easy to obtain. * Rare: Some potions require one or more ingredients that are very rare, and are far more difficult to obtain. You can see an IC list of Ingredients here, each tagged with its properties and rarity: The Ingredients Spreadsheet Every potion will be tagged with it’s ingredient, as well as any other conditions that are required for brewing: In this example, the Rano potion, despite being a low DC potion, requires a Rare ingredient due to the potency of the potion's effects. This prevents the potion from being made endlessly as you will be limited to the number of Rare ingredients you have available in your inventory. Obtaining Ingredients In any of the potions classrooms, associated tables, or in Slugs and Jitters at Diagon Alley, you can use this command: p!ingredient It can be used three times to receive three random ingredients. The command resets every three days, which equals to about six ingredients a week. The ingredients you can draw are the same as the ones outlined above: Common ★ Unusual ★ Rare As you might expect, the frequency of which you get each ingredient type suits their name. You will be getting Common ingredients almost all of the time, while Unusual and Rare will be far less frequent. You can roll for ingredients in the #ingredients-cabinet channel in Discord! RP is not required. Ingredient Commands p!inventory Use this command to view your ingredients inventory, and see how many of each ingredient you have. p!use This command allows you to use an ingredient to make a potion. You must use this command before you !cast your Potion Creation Spell. Failing to do so, especially in the creation of a Rare potion, will result in a warning and possible OOC repercussions. Note: Potions you make in or for class will have ingredients provided and DO NOT require the p!use command. p!userinfo p!give These commands are part of the trading system, where you can either give or trade ingredients with other students. Whether you want to trade one ingredient for another, pay someone a little gold in return for one of theirs, or offer a favour to a friend in return for a gift, trading ingredients is encouraged! But remember: RP is required to perform ingredient trades! ' Alternative Ways to Obtain Ingredients Using the p!ingredient command will be but one way to gather the ingredients you need, and the others include: * Asking a potions professor nicely for the ingredient you need (not guaranteed that they will agree). * Performing some kind of extra credit or task at the behest of a potion’s professor (guaranteed if you do the task). * Rewards for excellent potions performance or class contributions. * Rewards from adventures! * Purchasing Rare ingredients with OOC points (in very limited quantities, coming soon). * And more in the future! You won’t be bound to the woes of RNG and there will be plenty of ways to earn Ingredients outside of the three day cooldown.' Time Gated Another aspect we’ve added to help keep some of the most powerful potions from becoming too common is time. Some potions, mostly those of exceptional strength and utility, do not require an ingredient but rather require time-- Time to the tune of 1-3 OOC weeks. For example, this is one of the most powerful potions available in the Model and in canon: Felix Felicis. When you drink this in Model Hogwarts, it means you will receive a buff that allows you to use your L (Luck) modifier as many times as you want over the course of the day on your stat rolls, essentially doubling them. Because of how powerful this is, it needs to be carefully limited in the Model. Not only can you only have one vial of it in your possession at any time, but it will take three OOC weeks from your successful !cast potions_newt+ for you to actually be able to use it. Time Gated potions generally do not require the use of an ingredient.' Unstable and Tricky Potions (Brewing with a C) The final gating method is the C or combat modifier. It works the exact same way it does for spells; casting with the modifier removes your year modifier, causing you to cast with only your dice and the learns you have earned in a spell. So, let's say we want to make the Hocus Pocus Focus Potion DC 12, Int+ potion. As we know from the “How to Brew Potions”, you only need to roll as high as the DC to successfully create the potion: At first glance, this seems like a successful brew, but the issue lies in the description: It requires brewing with a C modifier, which means for the third year in this sample that they will lose the extra +2 of their year modifier and make the potion much harder to brew: This potion, because it has such a powerful effect, is also incredibly tricky to make and requires more than just following directions to succeed; you need first hand experience because some of the techniques used in it can be quite tricky with a high margin of error, and could lead to failure if not controlled right. While that is the IC reason, OOCLY this works as a mechanic so people who haven’t put much focus in potions can’t easily access the most powerful brews just because of their year modifier alone. The year modifier may be negligible in Years 1-3, but grows far more impactful as the years progress. While someone who has put time into potions with regard to !learns will have a much easier time of brewing with a C, someone with less "experience" will have a higher chance of failure. The handful of potions that require the C modifier for brewing balance the requirement by being highly desirable and useful potions. ' Stat Potions and Roles When you use a potion that affects your stats, there are certain Discord Roles that need to be applied to your character for those stat changes to take place. When you take a potion along those lines, be sure to message a @Admin member and let them know what potion you took, they will place the role on you and remove it in about 24 OOC hours. As of December 24th, 2017, the Stat Roles are not yet implemented and this will be updated accordingly when the system is fully in place. Here is a list of what are currently considered Stat Potions. They all require C during brewing and have other limitations you can read about if you look for them on the Spell List or use the !lookup command in Discord: * Rano Potion DC 4, Basic: +1 Wisdom and +1 Finesse for one day. * Weakness Potion DC 8, Basic: -2 Vitality for one day. * Blinding Poison DC 9, Int-: -3 Finesse for one day or until cured with Antidote for Common Poisons. * Sadness Draught DC 12, Int-: -2 to all stats for one day. * Insight Potion DC 16, Int+: +4 to Wisdom and +4 to Social for one day. * Invigoration Draught DC 16, Int+: +3 finesse and +3 Vitality for one day. * Draught of Wrath DC 16, Int-: +4 Vitality but -4 Wisdom for one day. * Drink of Despair DC 20, Int-: -4 to all stats for one day. * Essence of Insanity DC 20, Int-: +5 vitality for reckless stubbornness and +2 finesse for being unpredictable, but -4 to Wisdom and -4 to Social for one day. * Elixir to Induce Euphoria DC 22, Newt+: +5 Finesse, +4 vitality for one day. * Felix Felicis DC 28, NEWT+: All Stat rolls may use the L modifier for one day. ' How to Use Combat Potions There are many potions that can have different effects like inflicting B on casts and stat rolls, or by granting A on certain stat rolls if the potion is of the beneficial variety. There are other combat potions which have effects that differ from these, but the effects are explained in their description and often will require creative strategy to adequately use in combat. In general the use of potions in combat and how they are determined to be effective should be done on a scene-by-scene basis as right now there is no official combat rules for using potions in fights. As long as the gating restrictions aren’t being violated and there is OOC consent, you have a lot of freedom in how you approach this and can always ask a @Admin member for help if you have trouble resolving something in a scene. Note: The B inflicted by most potions does not contribute to the two B’s that are needed to end combat if you are using the official dueling rules. Chucking potion vials at your opponent is also generally frowned upon in a formal setting. Miscellaneous Potions Guidelines Here are a final few potions guidelines or subjects that have yet to be addressed. Poisons & Antidotes Antidote to Common Poisons Cures: * Muggle Poisons (Arsenic, Lead, other toxins.) * Common magical creatures. * Common magical ingredients. * Confusing Concoction * Blinding Poison * Overdoses on Herbicide Potion ''Antidote to Uncommon Poisons Cures:' * The poisons of more exotic magical creatures. * Unusual and rare magical ingredients. * Angel's Trumpet Draught * Moonseed Poison * Dogbane Poison * Bloodroot Poison * Baneberry Poison ---- '''Polyjuice Guidelines' * Polyjuice takes two (2) OOC Weeks to brew. * You may only have two (2) doses of Polyjuice at any one time, so you must use any current dosages you have before you can finish brewing the potion. * You can use hair, skin flakes, dandruff, nail clippings or eyelashes in Polyjuice to activate it. Polyjuice Rules # Polyjuice lasts one (1) in model hour, which will be considered roughly half a day for this purpose. Because of how RP scenes can be, you are allowed to stretch out a scene for longer than half a day, but keep in mind how much time your actions would take IC. Staff may step in if they feel you are abusing the lengths of Polyjuice. # You must have OOC permission to impersonate someone with Polyjuice, and you can arrange with that person OOCly on how the material was acquired and whether or not you should roll for it. You also need to tell them your general plans, and inform them if they change for any reason. If you go outside of the agreed upon restrictions, the other player may retcon the scene. # You are encouraged to change your icon and display name to match that of whose hair you took. If you need to change your house colors, you may ping a @Admin member and request the change, but let them know you are using Polyjuice to do it. # You may enter the person's common room while under the effects of Polyjuice. # You may Polyjuice a Professor, but the same OOC rules apply. If you impersonate a Professor, you will not gain access to the Restricted Section unless you pay for a visit with OOC points. ---- Love Potion Rules # You must have OOC permission before giving someone a love potion. # You may cause the potion to imprint on someone that isn't you by using their wand, but you must have the OOC permission of that person as well. # If the person becomes uncomfortable with the scene or the effects at any time, they may request to end the scene, regardless of whatever permission they gave you before.' Love Potion Base I, II and III may be resisted by s!willpower rolls equal or greater than the DC of the potion itself. Willpower rolls will not work against Amortentia. Love Potion Antidote will cure all of the base love potions, but requires a DC of 25 or higher to cure Amortentia.' How to Imprint a Love Potion After creating the potion-- or opening it if it was store bought-- you dip the tip of your wand briefly in the concoction. This will cause the potion to imprint on you, making you the target of affections for whoever drinks it. ---- There are a few other fluff Potions that have fun information surrounding them, and they can be found in Discord by using this command: p!info Otherwise, if you have any other questions, please check the Potions FAQ or ask anyone from the Potions Department in Discord! This overview is in beta, and will likely be edited a lot in the near future. Category:Potions Category:OOC Articles